Saturday, March 3, 2007

Spring 2007 at PETALUMA URBAN HOMESTEAD

Welcome!

Spring has arrived at the "homestead". The Sugar Snap Peas are plump and ready. Kids, ducks, the dog and the chicken were all hanging out together today while the laundry dried in the warm breeze above their heads . Dee Dee duck laid an egg in the middle of the yard (luckily it was gathered in time). "Chicken" laid her's like clockwork in her nest box. Her once-a-day constitution. It was quite a sight to see everyone, humans and animals alike, enjoying the beautiful day. We are truly blessed to have this little bit of paradise.

Our house was built in 1907 on a 6,000 square foot urban lot amongst other Victorians and Bungalows. It's just a short walk to our wonderful old downtown. Two years ago we got our friends to leave Oakland and buy the house behind us. Our backyards adjoin so we've joined forces in this urban homesteading project. We had looked for rural property together before coming here but the long drive to jobs and amenities seemed crazy with the coming end of oil. We wanted a small, tight community that could support itself in a crisis. We are working towards that end.

My neighbor friend and I took a Permaculture Design Course this past year and the re-design for our two adjoining urban lots is the result of that course. We plan a permaculture food forest. We aim for "An overabundance of abundance" as permaculture teacher Penny Livingston-Stark says. That's the plan. We'll post our progress here so you can learn with us as we make mistakes, jump for joy, and hopefully live more lightly on the planet.

6 comments:

Hi,We are so excited to see what you are up to in Petaluma! Good for you creating an Urban Homestead! We look forward to seeing your progress! We are active with Big Sur Powerdown. Our friends are homesteading on a tiny piece of land sharing it with a cow and chickens. Its a wonderful lifestyle for the entire family and their friends! Enjoy!!

It's beautiful! I was smiling all the way through it. It makes me feel like the gap between Fillmore and Petaluma no longer exists. I am going to pretend our orange trees are just on the other side of your fence. My prayer for you and your sweet urban homestead is an "abundance" of joy and peace. I am proud to call you my friends.

Glad to see this! What great news! This week begins my Eat Local Challange for $186/per week. I have read an article in Time Magazines, March 12 th issue. The Bureau of Statistics estimates that a family of four spends the above on food per week. And, since the biggest complaint about eating local is that it is more expensive, I've decided to give this a try. I will let you know how it goes.

Also, trying to ride more on my New Bike! Paying my kids .50cents per mile if they choose to ride with me. This is of course, possible in town. It has worked to Little League games and Whole Foods. I have chosen this reimburseable amount based on IRS amount I get for mileage thru work expense. Cheers! And, I want to see and hear more about this! I will be at the Culinary OAEC Garden tour, this Sunday. Will you, Suzanne? And, I may look into Permaculture! Thanks so much for doing this, Martha Jones.